Chiropractic Care for Athletes Injuries at Every Level

Injuries are a part of life and while it can be discouraging when you are dealing with injuries from working out, injuries from inactivity are equally as hard. With movement and exercise come many benefits. This includes decreased risk of metabolic disease, increased muscle mass and improved cardiovascular health. On the other hand inactivity brings with it decreased muscle mass, risk of metabolic disease, decreased cardiovascular health and decreased mobility as you age. 

No matter what your fitness level; whether you are training for a marathon, going for long walks, or lifting weights there are simple ways to help prevent injuries. 

1.Variety:

A large contributor to injuries from exercise is when you perform the same exercises over and over which ultimately strengthens the same muscles/muscle groups while neglecting others leading to an imbalance and injury. Performing different types of exercises/workouts can help prevent this imbalance. Not only should you add variety to your workouts, you should also add variety to the intensity. Trying to make each workout as hard as possible is a recipe for disaster. Varying your intensity allows you to work each of your metabolic systems and improve overall health and athletic performance. 

2.Rest Days:

Overtraining is a large contributing factor to injury risk. It can feel like you aren’t working towards your goals when you take a break. Fortunately it’s the exact opposite. Rest days prevent overuse injuries and allow your muscles and body to recover.

3.Seek Early Treatment:

Early treatment has been shown to decrease recovery time. In addition to working on the physical injury your healthcare provider is equipped to help guide you on activity modification and exercise prescription. These modifications can help improve healing and prevent future injuries.

4.Stay Hydrated and Nourish Your Body

A portion of athletes use exercise as a means for weight loss. While exercise and nutrition are a great way to work on body composition, your risk of injury increases when you are in a significant caloric deficit. A calorie deficit (burning more calories than you consume) can lead to poor recovery from workouts, less energy during workouts and increased risk of tissue damage. Sufficient energy consumption is important in combination with proper hydration. Not only will proper consumption help you with your workouts, it will also help prevent cramping and injuries. 

Chiropractic care is an effective way to help treat and prevent injuries in athletes. The Chiropractors at Connor Chiropractic and Wellness Center provide Active Release Technique (A.R.T.). A.R.T is a type of soft tissue therapy used to help improve muscle function and decrease injuries. (You can read more about it here.) In addition, as athletes ourselves, we pride ourselves on working with our patients to keep them moving. While exercise modification may be essential during injury recovery we do our best to keep our patients working towards their goals in some way. 

In the end the goal of exercise is to stay healthy and while injuries can and do happen. That being said you can do everything in your power to help prevent them. By working to prevent injuries and seeking treatment quickly you have the best chances of long term success!